Buckle for belts, straps, or the like



July 26, 1932. G, E, HAlNEs 1,868,828

BUCKLE FOR BELTS, STRAPS, oR THE LIKE Filed Nov. 20, 1.951

Syvum/tifo@ Patented July 26, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE GEORGE E. HAINEs, E PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AssIGNoE To L. H, GILMER COMPANY, A CORPORATION 0F NEW JERSEY BUCKLE PoR BELTS, STRAPS, 0E THE LIKE Application lediNovember 20, 193i. Serial No. 576,390.

This invention relates to bucklesfor belts, straps and the like, and has special reference to buckles for the belts of bathing vsuits and similar garments, fastening straps and the like, although not limited in use thereto.

Where a belt is used as a yfastener or support in connection with certaink classes of garments it is desirable to'provide a buckle for the belt the members of which are capable of being quickly engaged and disengaged or locked and unlocked, but which when united will not readily become casually disengaged. Also where the belt is employed to support a garment from thehipsof the i5 wearer it is desirable that the buckle, in-

stead of being still and resisting movements of the parts of the belt to which its members j A y platesof/sprmg metal or other suitable mateare attached, should allow such parts to have free and easy movementin order to accommodate themselves to the movements of the parts of the body of the wearer with which vthey are in contact or from which they are suspended.

The object of my invention is, rst, to pro- 25 vide a buckle for belts, straps and the like,

the members Vof which embody interengaging or locking devices which maybeinstantly engaged or disengaged, or locked and unlocked, but which when engaged are so united as to require a prescribed abnormal movement to separate them, so that their casual disengagement at any time is notlike- 1y to occur; and, second, to provide buckle 'members which 'are adapted through thelr lockine` connections to have oivotal move Lr, o

ments in a direction at an angle to the direction of their engaging and disengaging move- `ments so as to freely accommodatefthemselves to and permit normal body movements of the wearer without liability of separation of the belt ends; f

The invention consists of the features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described and claimed, reference being lhad to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the engaging ends of a belt provided with my improved buckle. v Fig. 2 is an edge view thereof, showing uthe member 4.

in `dotted ylines the engaging movement of l one' buckle member relativeto lthe other. y

Fig/3 is' a central longitudinal `sectionl through the buckle, showing in dotted lines the disengaging `movement of one buckle member relative to the other. f 'Fig.=4 is a view of the ends of thebelt and their buckle members separatedk fromeach other.V v w Referring now moreparticularly tothe drawing@ yand 2 designates the meeting ends vof abeltof suitable material, to which are applied; buckle members 3 and 4 embodying my invention, said members 3 and' 4 being connected with said belt ends l and 2 by clamps 5 or other suitable fastening means. Y `The members 3 and4, which may consist of rial, are provided with interengagingorinterlocking elements for detachably connecting the same. To this end,`the member 3 is provided withk'a headed vlocking pin or stud comprising a .stem 6, riveted or otherwise secured at one end to the member 3, and a head 7 carried by the opposite, outer or forwardly projecting end ofthe stem. The head7 is preferably of rectangular or oblong rectangularfor-m in plan, and of. greatest length'or disposed with its ymajor axis longitudinally of the'belt. v The outer surface 8 of this head is preferably convexly curved'in thedirection of its length, so as to provide a cam surface for coaction with the locking element on f The member 4 is provided with locking yelement 9 l which kis integral therewith and formed by providing the member 4 with a pair offlongitudinal slits '10 and a transverse slit 11, which slits 10 are spaced a major distance apart atth'eir inner ends and extend in con- 'vergent relation toward and intersect the slit yl1,th`usy `'giving thel fastening element 9 the shape lof a` truncated V-shaped ortapering tongue, whose reduced free end terminates ad-- jacent to and inwardly of the slit 11. The

slit 11 is preferably laterally enlargedto a `sufficient degree to yform akeeper opening to receive the stem 6 and forpassage therelthrough of the head 7 of thelocking element ofthemember-.v f

The keeper opening 11 is of such size as to loosely receive the stem G but too narrow to permit of the passage of the head 7 when the tongue 9 is in normal position, in which it lies in the plane of the member 4 and in the space or slot lying between the outer walls or margins of the slits l0, so that when the locking element on member 3 is in locking position its stem 6 projects outwardly through the keeper opening 1l and the end of its head adjacent the tongue 9 overhangs or overlaps the free end of said tongue, thus holding the two members 3 and 4 in assembled relation, as shown in full lines in Figs. l, 2 and 3. When the parts are in this position relative casual separating movement of the members 3 and 4 will be prevented under all ordinary conditions in use, but the members 3 and 4 may have pivotal movement in parallel planes and inthe same direction on the stem 3 as a pivotal axis, by which means the belt ends may have free transverse pivotal movements on one another, without liability7 of separation. This is of value and importance where the belt is, for example, passed around the waist of the wearer and used for supporting a garment from the hips of the wearer so that free play of the garment and portions of the belt may be permitted to acconinlodate themselves to the body movements of the wea-rer.

lt will thus be seen that the members 3 and 4 can not be separated by relative pivotal movement on the stem 6 as an axis, or by relative sliding movement between the members 3 and 4 along the stem 6 under normal conditions, since the free end of the tongue 9 will lie beneath the locking shoulder formed by the adjacent end of the head 7 and thus prevent outward displacement and disconnection of member 4 relative to member 3. `Whenever it is desired, however, to disconnect the two members 3 and 4 when engaged with one another, this may be effected by tilting or swinging the member 4 outwardly at an angle relative to member 3, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, so as to exertpressure on the free end of the tongue, whereby the tongue will yield or bend inwardly or rearwardly, allowing the member 4 to be slipped outward over the head 7, in which operation the free end of the tongue will slide over the adjacent end of the head 7. To connect and interlock the members 3 and 4 again, it is simply necessary to dispose the member 4 at an outwardly inclined angle to the member 3, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, with the member 4 disposed in such position that the opening l1 and free end of the tongue 9V face the cam surface 8 of the head 7, and to then swing the member 4 inwardly toward the member 3, in which operation the tongue will ride on the convex or cam surface 8 of the head 7 and be bent or deflected outwardly thereby so as to permit the head to pass outwardly through the opening ll andthe free end of the tongue to ride over and engage nuclei' the inner end of the head, thus bringing the members 3 and 4 into locking engagement, as shown in full lines in Figs. l, 2 and 3, and as previously described.

My improved buckle may be Yapplied to safety belts for bathing garments or to other belts in which the use of a secure buckle allowing flexibility of the connected belt ends is desirable. The construction of the buckle obviously is such as to provide a very simple and inexpensive construction of buckle having interlocking members which will prevent accidental disconnection of the buckle members under all ordinary conditions of service, while allowing practically instantaneous connection and disconnection of said buckle members when desired.

l/Thile theconstruction shown is preferred, it will, of course, be understood that changes in the form, proportions and arrangement of parts may be made within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirt or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

My improved buckle is adapted for use in connection with various articles of manufacture, and in such use the buckle may be provided with a plurality of studs and spring tongues.

That I claim is l. A buckle for belts and other straps and the like, comprising a pair of buckle members, one of said buckle members having an end fulcrum edge for rocking motion on the other buckle member and being provided with a keeper opening, a slot communicating therewith, and a spring tongue disposed in said slot and movable laterally into and out of the slot to regulate the size of the keeper opening, said tongue having an imperforate free end normally forming one of the end walls of the keeper opening and spaced from the opposite end wall thereof, and the other buckle member having a stud provided with a stem of a. size to freely enter said opening and normally having slidable vmovement between said end walls and carrying a head of normally greater size than the opening and adapted for engagement with the tongue for locking and releasing movements, the tongue being movable laterally into and out of the plane of the opening to expand the same and permit passage of the head through the opening, said head being elongated in the direction of length of the buckle and lia-ving an outer convexly curved cam surface over which the said imperforate free end of the tongue may ride for displacing actions in one direction or the other on rocking motions of the tongue carrying member on the stud carrying member.

2. A buckle for belts and other straps or the like, comprising a pair of buckle members, one having a keeper opening and a spring tongue having an imperforate free end provided With a continuous transverse edge forming one of the Walls of the opening, and adapted to be laterally displaced in opposite directions from a normal position to increase the size of the opening, and the other member having a stem freely movable through said opening and carrying a head provided with iattenedsides and elongated in the direction of length of the buckle, the outer face of the head being convexly curved longitudinally, said head being movable into and out of the opening When the tongue is displaced and adapted to interlock -With said tongue.

In testimony whereof, I aiiix my signature.

GEORGE E. HAINES. 

